This invention relates generally to infant or toddler walkers and more specifically to toddler walking training devices which are supported by one or more parents or adults.
Adult supported infant walking aides are known in the art. An early example is U.S. Pat. No. 1,193,374, entitled "Baby Walker" and issued on Aug. 1, 1916 to Gilliam. This device utilized a harness with adjustable waist belts and an adjustable handle. This device, however, has no crotch support, no adjustable shoulder straps, no safety tether, and can only be operated by a single adult.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 1,749,999, entitled "Manually-Held Supporting Device For Assisting Children In Learning To Walk" issued on Mar. 11, 1930 to Crocker. This device provides a vest like harness along with two support straps. It has no crotch support, no shoulder strap adjustment, no support strap adjustments, and uses an inefficient lace type fastener. Further, the support straps are not releasable and there is no safety tether.
A more recent example of adult supported infant walking aides is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,287, entitled "Infant Walking Aide" and issued on Jun. 9, 1992 to Brown et al. This device shows a harness with crotch support and a bar by which an adult can support the device. However, this device presumably offers no adjustability. The harness loosely encloses the toddler. It has only a single belt strap encircling the toddler's waist and no shoulder straps. The lack of support straps makes the toddler susceptible to flipping backward or forward. The small bar handle allows the device to be operated by one hand of an adult, but it precludes other desirable configurations, such as two adults supporting the toddler simultaneously.
Clearly, there exists a need for an improved adult supported child walking aide which: 1) is fully adjustable, 2) is adaptable to many different support configurations, 3) can be supported by one or two adults (thus sharing the load), 4) prevents a toddler from flipping backwards, 5) has a harness which may be worn by a toddler when the support straps are detached, and 6) provides a safety tether for added security in dangerous areas.